Mikhuyana
by TornadoWeirdo
Summary: Raimundo falls prey to a dangerous parasitic infection. With no cure, what are Omi, Kimiko, and Clay supposed to do?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Note: This is a broad continuation of my previous Xiaolin fic "On Guard." I didn't quite feel like cluttering together a whole bunch of "episodes" as multiple chapters in one story. More separate and organized this way. **

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><p>It was a humid and sunny day for the jungles of Zaire, Africa. A breeze picked up and swept over the treetops, and the silhouette of a flying serpentine figure eclipsed the blazing sun. Shortly it came in for a landing, breaching the jungle canopy.<p>

* * *

><p>After a while, bickering voices could be heard in the lower-hanging jungle brush.<p>

"IS it this way?" Kimiko asked in annoyance as she followed a scampering Omi up through thick vegetation. Dojo was soon seen poking his head above a tree root and slithering along with her.

"That's what this darn nose is telling me," he replied. "Then again, there are a lot of 'exotic' smells that could be interfering…"

"Well, do the best you can and sniff out the Wu," said Clay, trudging up beside them carrying a hefty Shen Gong Wu bag. "This wet heat's really gettin' to me."

"Ugh, same here," panted Raimundo, falling behind on the rugged path.

Kimiko stopped shoving branches away for a moment and shot a glance back at the Brazilian. "Are you joking? Shouldn't you be used to this kind of heat? Heck, you practically lived on the Equator."

"Um, no. Excuse me, but Rio's HUNDREDS OF MILES away from there," Raimundo asserted. "Makes a big difference."

Their conversation was carrying over the jungle treetops along with the more natural environmental sounds of birds and monkeys.

"All right, all right." Kim shrugged, a little exasperated. "Let's just find this 'Lucky Horseshoe' so we can leave already."

"Fu Horseshoe!" Omi yelled from afar.

"What? You found the Horseshoe?" shouted Clay.

"No! It is called the FU Horseshoe!"

"He's right gang," stated Dojo "intelligently." "Chinese for 'luck.' It's the proper name… AND it rhymes!"

"Yeah, well it's pretty ridiculous having a horseshoe giving good luck as a Shen Gong Wu." Kim continued bending back tree limbs, which took some real effort. "How did Dashi come up with this stuff – stealing ideas from Irish mythology and everything."

The dragon secretly concurred to the silliness of it all. "Hey, at least this'll be the only lucky horseshoe that _works_."

"True."

* * *

><p>Not long after, the group approached a wide-open section of jungle devoid of tangling underbrush and viny trees. "Free-DOM!" exclaimed Clay as he stretched his arms. They walked out onto the rocky-yet-grassy plain in search of the Wu. But right on time, a shadow loomed overhead, bearing the shape of a scrawny teen and his heli-pack.<p>

"Oh no…" moaned Raimundo, having caught up to witness the arrival of one irksome goth boy.

"Jack Spicer!" Omi stared up and clamped his hands into fists.

"Whoa, hey!" Jack screeched as he gazed down upon the Xiaolin. "Didn't expect to see YOU guys here in the middle of a stinking jungle!"

"Very funny there, Jack." Clay proceeded to crack his knuckles. "Now then, where're all your flyin' tin cans?"

"…I'm working on that! In the meantime, I need that Lucky Horseshoe – "

"Fu Horsehoe!" corrected Omi.

"Uh, whatever…" Jack continued, "so cutting right down to it, can you all just back off and let _me_ get the Wu for a change? For once?"

"Wow… seriously?" Kimiko scoffed at Jack's blatant patheticness. "Sorry, that's not happening. Take a hike."

To that last sentence, Dojo let out a quick snort.

"Why I thought that would accomplish anything, I'll never know," the redhead muttered to himself. He then dove toward a lone tree surrounded by quicksand.

Dojo came back to focus. "Oh man! That's probably where it is!" He pointed in the tree's direction.

"You think?" Raimundo quit idly massaging his forehead and blew out ahead of everyone into the field.

Jack, meanwhile, rushed to the tree and began his search top to bottom. "Come on, where is it…" He eventually found a hole near the top of the tree trunk and stuck his hand in it. "Doi."

Out popped the Horseshoe. Mesmerized by its golden gleam, Jack held it tight and was about to fly off with his prize; but Raimundo swooped by and grabbed onto it, causing it to glow even brighter.

"Hey, _no!_ I found it first!"

"Too bad."

"Well then, I guess this means a Xiaolin Showdown…" Jack raised his eyebrows anxiously and reached into his heli-pack. "Okay, let's see… I have… the Glove of Jisaku. Dandy."

"And… I've got nothing," Rai claimed, digging into empty pockets. "Clay! Hurry up and chuck me something!" Clay, as well as Omi, Kimiko, and Dojo, were just now arriving.

"Oh-oh, 'kay. Here you go!" the cowboy hollered, tossing out a pair of sandals from his bag.

Raimundo instantly caught them. "Here they are – the Fancy Feet."

Jack lurched. "Shoot – okay. How about last person to fall into quicksand wins."

"FINE, can we just get this over with?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Xiaolin Showdown!" Spicer yelled while Rai simply said. On cue, the landscape spread out and gave rise to a sprawling ocean of quicksand. The lone tree shot up, detached from its roots, and branched out to become as large as a 10-story building. Near the bottom of the floating arborous tower stood the two opponents, one now clothed in blue armor.

"Gong Yi Tanpai! And blah." Jack began his climbing.

With that said, Raimundo immediately felt the giant branch beneath himself start to give way. "Kuh, I'm not _that_ heavy," he murmured. "Fancy Feet!" With the special sandals slipped on he dashed to the branch's edge and jumped up onto a wilted limb.

"Showoff…" breathed Jack, watching the warrior perform tree-climbing acrobatics far above on the opposite side. He glanced down at the Wu he was holding… as well as the disgusting moss now on his fingers. "Hmm. Glove of Jisaku!" The magnetic forces of the glove spread out in an attempt to attract Rai's Fancy Feet, but its radius could no longer reach.

"Rrrrrrr!" growled the albino, voice cracking. He scrambled on up the crumbling tree; if his heli-pack hadn't "mysteriously disappeared," he would've been having a much easier time.

Suddenly, Raimundo screeched to a halt as he was running for another branch. It was at that moment when, for some reason, he started feeling a weakness in his arms and legs, as if he had just been zapped of his energy. Despite this, he pushed himself onward with every bit of strength that remained.

Omi, Kimiko, Clay, and Dojo were watching (or at least trying to watch) the competition from the quicksand shore. "Wish I could see what's goin' on all the way up there," commented Clay, raising a hand over his eyes against the glaring sun. "Eh," remarked an inattentive Dojo.

Raimundo attempted to jump up to a twisted ledge that stood high above. At about the same time he had grabbed it, he let go and ended up slipping down like a rag doll. Jack, however, was gradually making his way up the other side of the tree when he noticed that Rai was now below him.

"What is this? Hey, if you're gonna beat me and rub it in my face… _AGAIN_, then stop with all the 'holding back' please. It's bad enough I'm already being downplayed!"

Struggling, Rai finally managed to pick himself up again. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't shake off this dizzy, weak feeling, and the pounding in his chest certainly didn't help. Still standing, he teetered back and forth for a while before the branch beneath him began to break.

And just like that, he plunged down the giant tree into the quicksand. Raimundo had lost the Showdown… to Jack Spicer.

Once the landscape returned to its normal, less unearthly self, the Fancy Feet and Fu Horseshoe both flashed into Jack's hands. Jack – not to mention the Xiaolin – was stunned.

"Hang on buddy!" Clay ran and swung a lasso out into the quicksand, catching Rai by the arm and pulling him to shore. Having turned back to their normal clothing, Omi and Kimiko also rushed to their "fallen leader," with Dojo trailing behind in vacillation. They were only mildly distracted by Jack as he hovered up and away, stuttering: "Welp, looks like I didn't _TOTALLY_ need this Wu's good luck to start with! Ha-ha, later Hare! Ya know? I'm the Tortoise and you're the too-smug-for-his-own-good Hare? Ah forget it… that was lame."

With the mecha-maniac out of the picture, Omi, Kimiko, and Clay didn't have to take a second glimpse at Raimundo to know there was something very, very wrong. For starters, he was now on his knees, hands clenching the ground, gasping for air.

"I… shouldn't… have lost!" he choked.

"We already know _that_," said Omi, sounding a bit more worried than disappointed.

"Umm, Rai, maybe we oughta help you out there…" Kim insisted with troubled eyes.

"Yeah partner, you don't look very good," Clay observed. "In fact, you look… _gray_."

By that time Raimundo's face had turned a completely pale gray color, but the Shoku Warrior thought nothing of it. "Well… so what…"

"So what?" retaliated Kimiko. "C'mon, let's take you back to the temple."

"I don't… need… to be _TAKEN_ back!" he snapped, trying to move his numb limbs.

"But Raimundo – " squeaked Omi.

"NO!"

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you need some serious treatment," Dojo declared, who had just then joined the group.

Rai pushed himself up and dragged forward, but in the process his vision and sense of balance became entirely distorted.

"Raimundo partner – " Clay's voice distanced.

He lost consciousness and collapsed right there.

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><p><strong>All I have to say is "stay tuned"...<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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><p>A few hours later, after having had Dojo rush them all back to the Xiaolin Temple in full-panic mode, Omi, Kimiko, and Clay changed into their Xiaolin robes and hurried into Master Fung's room to check on an extremely ill Raimundo, who had, almost miraculously, been responsive to his friends' life support methods. There Master Fung had placed him on his bed where he could sleep soundly, and was now attempting to treat his symptoms.<p>

"Now," Master Fung started as he noticed the three monks come in, "tell me exactly what happened," preparing some herbal tea.

Omi was first to pipe up. "He just… fell, figuratively _AND_ literally! All in his utter defeat…" he trailed off, glancing at Kimiko's expression toward him as she took a seat on the bed's rim.

"…Yeah," Kim continued, focusing again on the matters at hand. "We're just thankful Clay could pull off this 'thump' trick."

"Heh, also thankful I didn't break all his ribs during," Clay added in an all-too-humble tone. "Did _not_ think it would work."

Disregarding his statement, Kimiko unveiled her feelings on the issue. "Raimundo could've died Master Fung!"

"Yes, yes, I realize that," the Master said, sounding every bit as concerned. "I'm suspecting his body is recovering from shock, but at least as of now he's able to rest." He wiped Raimundo's forehead with a wet cloth. "Dojo! Do you have those needles?"

Dojo soon slithered in with a wooden box. "Yep, got the herbs and acupuncture set right here, ready to go," he heaved.

"Good, let's begin." Master Fung took away Dojo's "burden."

Instantly, there was a stomping of feet that could be heard coming from the hall, and soon enough Uarcay rushed into the room from guard duty to join everyone, startling both Dojo and the monks.

"Hey, what's been going on? Caught word of Raimundo being… sick?"

"Sick, or who knows what," Kimiko replied, apparently unshaken.

"We _don't_ know," claimed Dojo, still trying to give as much information as he could. "Checked his pulse, and it's just going every which way. But the kid's boiling over – there's gotta be some big, nasty infection taking place for it to make him _this_ feverish."

"The most bizarre infection I ever did see..." Clay peered down at Rai, shaking his head in bewilderment.

That's when Uarcay noticed Raimundo's odd appearance.

"Hold on, I've seen this. I've seen this somewhere." She came in for closer inspection.

"What – " Omi began.

"His skin! Look at how gray it is."

Clay leaned in as well. "Uh-huh…"

"AGH… what was that name…" Uarcay pondered. "Mika? Muka?"

"Mika-Muka?" questioned Dojo innocently.

He was startled, once more, by her response. "NO, Mikhuyana! Mikhuyana Syndrome."

"What is that?" inquired Omi.

"I _think_ it's that sickness caused by a worm, a Mikhuyana worm to be exact…"

"Wait, just a tiny… what'd you say… Mik-hu-yana, worm?" Kimiko puzzled.

Uarcay glanced back at her. "Well, maybe not 'just.' It's a weird bemarun skin parasite that eats on a mammalian host, from inside the blood; I heard it creates some kind of reaction that turns the skin gray, like his. And, I must have given it to him and had no idea." She paused for a moment.

"Ugh, a worm infestation?" Dojo groaned. "What a way to go."

Kim gave Uarcay a skeptical look. "…You sure about this?"

"Umm, mostly sure," replied the diffident bemarun. "But I don't think the Mikhuyana are _that_ prone to causing symptoms. Mikhuyana Syndrome is, well, relatively rare."

Clay tipped his hat up to scratch his head. "Just our luck," he huffed. "So, how do we get rid of the darn thing?"

"Uh…" Uarcay hesitated. "There's no real medicine for it. Nothing that would really do the trick..."

As Clay and Omi's faces went blank, Kimiko stood up from the edge of the bed rim. "_What?_" She then turned to her old master, who was busy fixing the needles. "Master Fung, isn't there a magic potion or mystical herb or something that could exterminate that parasite?"

Master Fung shifted his eyes up. "I regret to say, Kimiko, we do not have a 'special' Mikhuyana worm-destroying remedy at hand. If we tried to conjure anything – " he sighed deeply, sifting his thoughts about the situation. "Such a procedure cannot be performed aimlessly; I'm sorry."

"Guess you're right," Kim concluded in discouragement.

Meanwhile Omi himself had been in thought. "…Then if there is no proper medicine… then we must destroy this worm with our own hands… by, going into Raimundo?" He stopped himself in his own uncertainty, still suspending a pointed finger.

Clay's mouth drooped. "…Oh, whoa there partner, you might need to take a few steps back and think about that one."

"Heh, agreed," Kimiko added, taken aback by such a proposal. "I mean, inner bloodstream travel? In Rai? Man…"

"Yeah, you know how dangerous that could, or _would_ be?" warned Dojo. "'Biological complications' considered."

Omi lowered his eyebrows and straightened them out. "Possibly." His eyebrows rose up again. "But, we are supposed to be feeding off the danger! We are Wudai Warriors after all, and at the moment our duty is to save our leader from this wormy abomination! Right?"

The small monk flipped his eyes side to side in a tense stance, waiting for an answer. Somehow, Raimundo was still fast asleep.

Uarcay decided to humor him. "Hmm, sounding pretty persuasive, huh?" In response, Omi could only look up at her and slack his arms.

Finally, Master Fung spoke up. "Time is of the essence for this kind of illness. Although I would not exactly encourage such a plan, Omi, it really is up to all of you," he settled. "Again, the quickest way _would_ be the most efficient."

"Right. Raimundo's condition is only going to get worse unless we do something about it," specified Uarcay.

"It IS far-fetched, but… I suppose we should give it the ol' whirl. What else we got? Kimiko?" Clay took his hand out from under his chin to hear the Fire Dragon's final verdict.

Kim sat back down again, staring at the floor with her fingers on her temples. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Can't sit around and do nothing while Raimundo fries like rice hibachi or whatnot," she sighed. "Okay, just – just give me a minute…"

Omi immediately came up to her. "There is no time for minutes! We must act NOW!"

* * *

><p>With that the monks dashed to the Vault and grabbed a bunch of Shen Gong Wu for preparation purposes, putting them into a large bag and shrinking the bag to stuff inside the Silver Manta Ray. Naturally, it didn't take long. When they returned, all that was left to do was formulate a plan.<p>

* * *

><p>"…So, you're going to shrink yourselves on top of <em>this<em> thing?" Dojo questioned with a needle in hand. "I just hope I can balance you guys on the tip."

"That's the gist of it," replied Kimiko while sorting through the Wu. "You'll be fine."

"This is going to be a strange experience," muttered Uarcay.

"Remember Uarcay, _you_ need to stay and guard the Shen Gong Wu Vault," Master Fung pointed out. "Kimiko, Omi, and Clay are to tend to this."

"Oh – oh right. Okay then. I guess you three have a safe trip."

"Yes, be as safe as you possibly can," the Master added.

"Feh," hiccupped Dojo doubtfully, and he and Master Fung exchanged glances.

"All right… you ready guys?" Kim held up the Changing Chopsticks and Silver Manta Ray.

"MMM-_HMM_," Omi impatiently answered.

"Silver Manta Ray! Changing Chopsticks!" The trio shrank along with the Manta, to the point where they could not even be seen. Presumably, they had landed right on top of Dojo's needle.

"Ack, they'd better be on there." Dojo kept the needle held upright as he carefully edged toward Raimundo.

"Wait, one last thing…" Uarcay stopped the dragon for a moment. "The Mikhuyana could be anywhere in him; maybe if I just looked for a darker 'skin spot,' that could be a good place to start."

"Um, sure. Whatever'll work."

Uarcay proceeded to scan Rai's skin, then pulled down his shirt slightly to get a view of his left shoulder.

"Right about… HERE," she pointed. Dojo abruptly pricked the spot.

* * *

><p>It was dark; it was red. What appeared to be aquatic creatures zooming by the "seascape" were, in fact, blood cells. They were heading one direction in a seemingly well-organized fashion until the Silver Manta Ray blasted through, scattering them abroad. How lovely. Omi, Kimiko, and Clay were now in one of Raimundo's arteries.<p>

Kimiko took over the pilot's seat and began setting up her own GPS hard drive. Clay could only sit there in the passenger's seat and stare out into the ocean of plasma. "By golly – and to think _THIS_ is what we look like from the 'interior?'"

"Don't get caught up on sightseeing, Clay," Kim suggested nervously. "Okay, see here?" She gestured to the GPS screen she was working with and held his attention. "Look. Here's a general map of the circulatory system, which we need _so we don't get lost in here_."

To that, Omi, who had the entire backseat, glued himself to a window and gazed out at all the red blood cells passing by, indisputably fascinated. He had never seen "living liquid" up close and personal before.

"Now I gotta upload it into the software and we're set," continued Kimiko, tinkering away. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon… YES! There it is."

Omi peered over his shoulder to the front, then resumed seeing his own sights. That's when a platelet came out of nowhere and splattered on the window. The round-headed monk shrieked.

Studying the map as it zoomed in on the Ray's location marker, which still appeared extraordinarily tiny, Clay made an uneasy face. "…I'm guessin' we just trek through every blood vessel we can until we find somethin' suspicious?"

"And then go out and deal with it," Kim finished.

"Cuz this may take quite a while," the cowboy summarized with a chuckle. "I mean, from here, all I see is blood, blood, and more blood…"

This only made Kimiko grip tighter onto the steering wheel.

"Even if it takes our entire lives, I would not mind it too much," Omi chimed in. "We have yet to explore this wondrous place."

"Wondrous. Exactly the word I would've used," snorted the pilot sarcastically.

"Mm – " hummed Clay, right before the Silver Manta Ray suddenly jerked and shook everyone up. Something had just rammed into the craft.

Omi looked out again, and this time he saw the side of a large white thing attached to the back, starting to crush the Manta.

"Um, why are we being attacked by a giant cloud creature?" he asked loudly over the crushing noise.

Clay swiveled around and looked back also. "…Uh, Omi, that's a white blood cell."

"White, blood cell…? Oh yes of course; I knew that," said the monk, slightly embarrassed.

"_And_ it looks like it's sizing us up for a one course meal!" the cowboy exclaimed. "We gotta get it off NOW or forever hold our peace!"

Kim grumbled at the wheel. "Yep Omi, wondrous! Okay, let's go." She took the Gills of Hamachi out of the Wu-bag while Clay and Omi snatched their weapons of choice. They each grabbed the Gills, called out its name, and became fish-like, then made a dive through the floor hatch.

"Oh boy…" whimpered Kimiko as she gained control of herself within the plasma's current.

Clay, meanwhile, had to remove his hat and fan himself with it. "Whew-wee, it really _is_ cookin' in here. Definitely must be over a hundred degrees or so."

"Kimiko! Clay! Over… agh, here!" yelled Omi, struggling. The two Dragons forced themselves upstream to unite with him. They soon found the white blood cell behind the Silver Manta Ray, attempting to engulf it.

"That white blood will _not_ be boaring out on our Shen Gong Wu any longer," Omi proclaimed, shaking his head. "HAH!" He charged right into the gelatinous lymphocyte fist-first. It did nothing but get him stuck in squishy membrane.

"Wait!" Clay swam in fast as lightning and yanked his impulsive friend out, unintentionally ripping off a piece of his robes in the process. "Little buddy, you can't hurt these things by punching er kickin' – they're practically made o' jello."

"Oh." Omi was getting to the point where he felt like a total buffoon.

"How about another approach," recommended Kimiko. She took a Wu out from under her sash. "Eye of Dashi!" Its electrical streak shot out and hit the cell with such shocking force that it let go of the Silver Manta Ray.

"Woo, that'll work! Now let's see here…" Clay fumbled around in his sleeve and pulled out his Wudai Weapon. "Big Bang Meteorang!" He threw the boomerang/ninja star at the stunned white blob, blowing a gaping hole right through it. But once it did so, the Meteorang had no room to come back around, so instead it blasted into the artery wall.

"…Whoops."

"Clay!" Kimiko shouted. "We're supposed to be _helping_ Raimundo, not giving him hemorrhage!"

"Well, how else are we gonna fend for ourselves?" the Dragon of Earth retorted, a little defensively. "…There's no ground around here; you can't make any fire without it fizzlin' out."

Kim realized this as she failed to spark a flame in her hands. "Ah, that's true. At least Omi shouldn't have a problem with _his_ element," she figured, looking down at the Water Dragon, who looked back up.

"…Oh yes! Surely _I_ may be able to control this rather wavy current," Omi perked, while still fighting against the tide of red blood cells.

"Well, that won't be enough to keep MILLIONS of these things at bay," Kimiko wearily noted. "So it looks like we're stuck with electricity for 'safety measures.'"

"…Millions?"

* * *

><p>Soon enough, the fishy monks and the Manta Ray were gradually pulled into a slower, less frantic vessel. Having equipped themselves with the Eye of Dashi, Denshi Bunny, and Thorn of Thunderbolt, the warriors were becoming more and more cautious every minute for what freakish globules might sneak up on them.<p>

Poor Omi was constantly being knocked around by the blood cells, losing concentration on the search-and-destroy mission. "If these were people, they would – AGH… be very rude people INDEED!" he uttered in increasing frustration.

Oblivious to that comment, Kim swam around, carefully examining the environment for at least a sign of pathological activity. Clay pulled ahead, and he knew mutually well there had to be something this so-called "Mikhuyana worm" had left in its wake. Out of the blue, his investigation skills paid off. At the top right of the fleshy wall he spotted an area that appeared to be abnormally dark, and dead.

"Hey fellas!" Clay began calling as he remained transfixed on the spot. But that's when he accidentally bumped into something else… something _BIG_. He reluctantly turned himself around to see, not another white blood cell, but a glowing, translucent green one. It rotated what looked like two straight parallel rods down to Clay's level and clamped onto him. Shimmering bands of light were traveling from his body through the rods to the center of the cell, as if it was downloading information. Stricken for a time, the cowboy snapped out of it and quickly summoned the power of his Denshi Bunny, transforming into electricity and zipping out of the cell's grasp.

From a safe distance, he looked back once more and saw only the remnants of the mysterious glob diffusing into arterial tissue. But there was no time to dwell on _that_ experience. Clay headed upstream with all his might to tell Kimiko the news on his discovery.

It wasn't until he reached her and the Manta Ray at a forked vessel pathway that she told him her own news. "Omi got lost, can you believe it." Kimiko slapped her arms to her sides.

"…Oh man, hope the little feller's all right."

Just then, the monk who was thought missing paddled frenetically to the scene, screaming at the top of his gills.

"What in the name of – " Clay began. He and Kimiko glanced behind each other and then let out a brief, unified gasp. There was a swarm of what looked like turquoise-colored birds, lacking bodies but possessing Y-shaped wings. And said swarm was flying right at them.

"Get in the Ray guys!" ordered Kim instantly. Omi came to a stop and followed her up to the Silver Manta Ray's hatch, with Clay not far behind. However, before the big fellow could return to safety one of the "birds" caught his right leg. Clay heaved as more and more stuck onto him, dragging him down and making him drop the Denshi Bunny… and knocking off his hat. As strong as he was, he just couldn't manage to wrestle these things off. They started flashing the yellow lights on their wings, causing him further panic.

Luckily, Omi noticed this right before he entered the Manta. "CLAY!" He paused briefly when something in the corner of his eye got his attention – a seaweed-like figure crawling up along the walls and into the darkness ahead. That didn't preoccupy him for long.

"Thorn of Thunderbolt!" Omi yelled as he reverted back to the distressed Clay, whose capturers' signals were luring a white blood cell into the vicinity. Rings of electricity shot out of the Wu and petrified the approaching antibody swarms temporarily, giving him a chance to retrieve the Denshi Bunny as it floated downstream. Once he brought it back, however, he realized that the white blood cell had just consumed Clay's hat and had already captured the cowboy himself in its outstretched appendage. Afraid of messing up again and doing harm to his friend, Omi madly swam to the Silver Manta Ray and Kimiko, dodging and shooting the winged creatures as he went.

Kimiko had her own problems. She was trying to shake off a whole bunch of the antibodies that were plastering themselves onto the Manta's hull. But soon Omi came around to shock them away, and appeared in front of the windshield, shouting muffled words.

"Clay is about to be white blood FEED!" he cried, just loud enough for Kim to hear. Grunting, she turned the Manta Ray around to face Clay and the lymphocyte; then, by accelerating forward as hard as possible, she ran the Ray's tail right through the cell's "arm," cutting it off. In turn, the rest of the cell tumbled away.

Having witnessed this, Omi reflexively jumped into action and helped pull Clay from the sticky white remains attached to him.

"Whew… thanks buddy," was all Clay could say while he wriggled out.

Once he was set free, the two returned to their safe haven at last, onboard the Silver Manta Ray.

"You okay Clay?" asked Kim upon a release of tension.

"Yup, I'm fine," the hardy Texan answered, out of breath. He slumped down in the back seat.

Something suddenly clicked in Omi's brain. "OH, Kimiko, I saw a long, slithery creature… in there!" He moved up to the front and pointed to a leftward vessel opening.

"Really?" Kimiko shifted the Manta Ray's bright light in the direction of Omi's finger. "SEE? THERE IT IS NOW!" exclaimed the monk. The light shone through the blood-filled tunnel, exposing a strange black worm. It had a blue sheen streaking across its eight polygonal body segments, but it also had four sharp, seal-like _flippers_; and it was sticking its pointed head right into the wall tissue, supposedly leeching nutrients from it.

"That thing definitely doesn't look native… OR friendly," Kim perceived. She steadily drifted the Manta closer so as to perform a surprise ambush. But then the worm immediately swam off.

"Dang it!" The fiery pilot pounded the steering wheel.

"We must get it!" Omi shouted while bouncing in the passenger's seat. To that, Kim shoved the wheel forward and took off in hot pursuit. The antibodies followed.

* * *

><p>Comparable to a high speed car chase, the Silver Manta Ray weaved in and out of blood traffic right on the tail of the Mikhuyana worm. Nevertheless, the parasite clearly had the advantage; its thin, agile body could maneuver around individual cells with ease. As a result, Kimiko was having difficulty tracking it.<p>

"URG, stay _STRAIGHT_ you stupid thing…"

"Hey, Kim?" Clay cut off her venting for a bit. "How 'bout Omi and I get out now and hogtie that worm so we can eighty-six it?"

"Well, huh, YEAH, _that_ would be helpful!" was the frustrated monk's answer.

"OKAY. Let's go Omi." The cowboy motioned the smaller monk to the floor hatch.

"Indeed…" Omi took out the Gills of Hamachi for another round of blood-snorkeling (without the desired facial protection).

The two rocketed out into the plasma and searched for their target. But by now the blood had slowed considerably, becoming quite a nuisance to navigate through.

"Omi, now might be a good time to use yer Water element," Clay brought up as he shoved multiple cells aside.

"Oh, right! I… forgot!" stammered the Dragon. "Wudai Neptune Water!"

The plasma stream in front of him swirled and pushed all the cells away, creating a convenient tunnel.

"Nice work there, buddy." Clay gave Omi a thumbs-up and they continued on through. And in the blink of an eye, the Mikhuyana worm was in sight, gliding ahead amidst the red crowd.

"There it is!" declared Omi with newfound confidence.

He kept the red blood cells out of the way as he and his friend pressed closer into the worm's proximity.

"Almost gottit…"

Clay and Omi were too focused on nabbing the critter to realize that the vessel walls were getting narrower and narrower, and in a matter of what seemed to be seconds, they lost each other in a maze of tight, enclosed "honeycomb."

Likewise, Kimiko, who was well behind, was trying to catch up when the Silver Manta Ray's wings began scraping the vessel walls.

"SHU-TO!" She ripped out the Changing Chopsticks on the double and shrank the Manta Ray down further. The craft then advanced onward without a problem.

Omi and Clay, however, were not having such a smooth ride. Each was being forced into a single cell line, and they found themselves being pushed forward – like a bowling ball stuck in a shaft of other bowling balls. Eventually Omi sprang out from the other side, whereas Clay had to work extra hard to squirm himself through.

Now that they could move around again, the two met up and swam on into the purpler, gloomier veins. Once they entered a wide vessel, only a shadowy form of the worm could be seen shifting among the dark red cells. It would be nice to have the Manta Ray's front light at this point.

"All right, we need cat eyes or somethin'; I can't see a doggone thing." Clay squinted his peepers.

"…I would gladly prefer a bright light to those strange feline eyeballs," commented Omi under his breath. But neither he nor Clay knew that their target had fallen behind and was now hunting THEM.

Then they heard a hissing sound coming from the rear. Housing a bad feeling, Omi and Clay looked back to see the Mikhuyana worm honing in, ready to strike.

"Eee-ah!" Omi edged leftward as the ruthless creature pinned Clay to the wall of a closed vein valve ahead. But the cowboy retaliated by rolling over and "bear hugging" it as the valve opened and sucked them through.

"Gotcha!" he grunted.

But it was taking a lot of effort to keep the whining, hissing parasite from squirming out of his grasp. "H-hold still you slimy troublemakin' varmint!"

Omi swam in wielding the Thorn of Thunderbolt. "When should I shock it? I do not want you to get hurt."

"WAIT – once I bash its head in… wherever it is," Clay said, still tussling. "You need a clean shot…"

That's when the worm escaped Clay's control and started swirling around him and the precautionary Omi. Frantically pointing in multiple directions, Omi couldn't get the shot he was aiming for. However, the worm soon decided to latch onto the fully-powered Thorn, with Omi's shaking hands still clutching it tightly.

Omi gasped, but out of pure habit he began chanting those infamous words.

"Worm, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Sho-AH!"

He was cut off by a swipe to the face.

Clay leaped in and wrestled the Thorn of Thunderbolt away from the creature. "You really think a microscopic beast'll know about _magic_?" he panted. The "beast," meanwhile, was attempting to stab him as if it was now craving his own flesh.

But on cue, a light beamed upon the three as the Silver Manta Ray finally whirred onto the scene. Kimiko veered the large craft to the side and divided Omi and Clay from the hungry parasite.

"There she is!" yelled Clay enthusiastically.

The Manta Ray had brought with it, however, the attention of the antibodies and macrophages. The snow-white cells could be seen closing in from behind, hindered only by the vein valve. After a short wave of alarm had hit him, Clay hatched an idea. He ducked underneath the Manta and got the Mikhuyana's attention by shocking it Denshi Bunny style. The irritated worm lashed out at him as he took off backwards, then gave chase. Hurriedly, the cowboy swam back to the shut valve, and once it opened, he turned into electricity and bolted out of the way. The worm found itself rushing right into a white blood cell, and the rest of the cells and antibodies gathered around while it finished consuming the black pest. Both Omi and Kimiko were watching the whole thing, mouths agape.

"Oh my, Clay!" Omi peeped as his Texan friend returned. "That was… quite terrific!"

Clay took the compliment in simple terms. "Yup, nothin' to it. Now, let's get outta here before those things decide on a second helping."

That said, the two ascended into the Ray and deactivated the Gills of Hamachi once and for all.

"Great job Clay!" congratulated Kim upon their arrival. She went ahead and turned the Manta Ray around, setting course onward down the veins.

* * *

><p>Back where the lymphocytes were floating along, the cell that had devoured the worm was beginning to tremble. It glowed with some blue light which gradually became more and more intense – and then burst with such a strong force that it swept off all the other cells in the area. A spinning electric wheel emerged from the remains, uncurling into worm form. The Mikhuyana had realized its full power… yet it was going to seek out even more. It curled up again and propelled itself through the deoxygenated blood at top speed.<p>

* * *

><p>After a while, the Silver Manta Ray was traveling at its own fast pace along a colossal vein, with the monks ready to make for an exit. It was only a matter of time before, in a near instant, the turbulence started to pick up.<p>

"Whoa!" Kim was finding it increasingly difficult to decelerate, and the entire craft began to shake like an airplane in a windstorm.

"Kimiko, could you _PLEASE_ slow down?" Omi implored as the Manta quaked ever more intensely.

"I'M TRYING!"

The outside noise became almost deafening as Kimiko swerved right and left to achieve a proper handle. But unknown to her or anyone else, the Mikhuyana worm soon whirled in from behind, fiercer and stronger. Although it took much effort to approach the Ray among the lagging plasma, the worm eventually cascaded above it and came crashing down; the impact sent the Manta Ray spinning out of control, as well as the electric systems. Kimiko, Omi, and Clay all screamed as the craft hit the wall and skidded down the side of the enormous vena cava into a black hole.

* * *

><p><strong>Fantastic Voyage, anyone? Yep, I went with that old cartoon plot ("medicine quests" can be overdone just the same). Am I some kind of sicko? Perhaps. But the awesomeness of the human body is what it is, and Xiaolin Showdown never really had a TRUE adventure inside someone. It would've been fitting for such a trippy show.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

><p>The three monks were conked out for a while, but they eventually came to when they picked up on the sound of thumping. What just happened? As Kimiko awakened, the first thing she noticed was that the GPS had been shot. She sat right up and stared out the windshield; it was nearly too dark to see anything, but it became disturbingly clear that the Silver Manta Ray had crash landed, somehow, somewhere, in the profundity of Raimundo's heart.<p>

"Omi! Clay! You guys all right?" she inquired, peering over to evaluate her dazed teammates.

"Whuh," mumbled Clay, as he and Omi stirred. "Been… uh… better; what in Sam Hill was _THAT_?"

"Not sure." Kim tried to start up the Manta Ray, but no luck. "Great, now something's wrong with this thing." Despite her efforts to move the wheel, the craft wouldn't budge. "AGH, it's gotta be stuck."

Omi was next to rise and groan. "We are _stuck_?"

"Well, the _engine_ is working fine; there's no problem there. Maybe the Ray's trapped from the outside. Hmph, come on, let's go take a look."

The minute the trio reactivated the Gills and crept out, they honestly didn't know how to grasp what they were seeing and hearing. From their view, large, thick web-like tissue canopied over them, repeatedly stretching and shrinking. Every powerful _LUBB-DUP _echoed throughout the aquatic environment. All the while the heart itself was pumping at an unusually fast rate, skipping a few beats here and there, thanks to one high fever.

However, where the Dragons were swimming, the site was bleak and desolate. Nothing was functioning; the surrounding cardiac muscle had been robbed of its life and power. Below the three dipped a huge black trench, which occasionally illuminated with chaotic, thundering electricity.

As Kimiko went ahead to inspect the Ray that was, as she had assumed, lodged in some of the dead tissue, out of the darkness pounced the Mikhuyana.

"_TSSSSSSS._"

It took Omi by surprise and constricted him with its body. "Aah!" The Water warrior was going to be food for the atrocious parasite – that is, until Clay moved in. "Oh no you don't!" He grabbed the worm's body segments and began pulling them apart. "Hang on Omi!"

Unfortunately, all that tugging sent the Mikhuyana into a short spout of rage. It responded by energizing its outer membrane, which severely electrocuted both Clay and Omi. They were left only to drop further down into the trench.

The Mikhuyana called attention to its fractured membrane and went to seek out repair. It drove hastily toward a live contracting spot of muscle nearby, intending to extract nutrients that may mend it. Landing on the surface, it plunged its head in and began the drainage process.

But Kimiko wasn't going to let that happen. The next thing the worm knew it was being smacked via a white-hot fist and hurdling into a wall it had already fed from.

By now the Fire Dragon's webbed hands were burning red and boiling the surrounding plasma. The Mikhuyana recovered almost automatically and rushed back out at her, javelin snout extended. Kim speedily reacted and dodged the incoming stab, but then the parasite whipped around and started circling about her like a shark, setting up its next attack. Without warning, it transformed itself into an electrified wheel and rammed the warrior up against the wall.

"_Ugh!_"

Kimiko was forcing herself out of a daze while the worm flew at her with razor sharp fins. She ducked just in time to avoid a single slash, and had to block a few more before finally getting a hold of one of the flippers. She followed up by overheating it and throwing the whole worm across a more open-ended space.

It wasn't long until the combatants found themselves being pulled upward, further and further toward the huge "ceiling" of fleshy beams. The stronger current did nothing to hinder their fight, however. Outraged, the crippled Mikhuyana worm shielded its entire body in electricity and was now attempting to constrict Kimiko. It surrounded her with its high-voltage segments in hopes of electrocuting the Dragon and draining her energy. As she pushed the coils out, protecting her hands with superheat, Kim realized that she and the worm were about to hit the overhanging beam. So with every bit of quickness she slipped underneath and propelled herself off the lithing constrictor in an effort to swim back down. She knew what might happen if she didn't try.

Unluckily, the turbulence was now too strong for the Fire warrior to handle. In an actual heartbeat she was pulled up again, along with the worm, both of whom impinged onto the curved ceiling.

In spite of this, the Mikhuyana worm continued persisting toward Kimiko. Attached to the rising and falling tissue from upside-down, it slithered over and prepared to spear her; the Dragon rolled away and left it to stick its head into the flesh it wasn't aiming for. She lost control, however, and involuntarily kept tumbling out from under the giant muscle whose smooth surface prevented her from stopping herself. Eventually the battered fighter emerged on top, barely holding on to a small tissue cavity.

Biting her lip, Kim glanced up over her shoulder at what was truly the ventricle interior: black space reaching out to the red horizon, heart strings which towered overhead like lopsided skyscrapers, and blood that was constantly roaring past and getting sucked up into the "sky" with the force of a violent tornado.

Still crawling along, the worm sensed its opponent and caught her hanging on the edge, then took the opportunity to launch a final assault. But as Kimiko noticed it beginning to charge itself up again, she summoned a strange firepower and found herself sliding down the beam of flesh, turning her path into a heated, highly frictional surface. The electric Mikhuyana stopped moving for a moment, befuddled, while she made a roundabout under the muscle. And before it knew what was coming, Kim swung over from behind and brutally kicked the parasite off its post, then resumed holding right back onto the tissue.

The worm reacted at once to the overwhelmingly puissant suction of the ventricle by curling into a fully charged wheel, desperately pushing to get back at Kimiko. It receded slowly nonetheless, now losing a battle against massive turbulence. Pulled further up into a gaping tunnel, the Mikhuyana kept on spinning until it drew toward a giant, obscure heart valve which was rapidly opening and slamming shut. And not unlike a voracious chomping mouth, the valve ended up crushing the worm into pieces.

Kim heard the Mikhuyana's pained hiss as she stared up, a disquieted look in her face; yet she remained attached to the web-muscle.

"KIMIKO!" two familiar voices called out, even though they were hardly audible amidst all the rushing blood. The Fire Dragon fixed her view below to see a miniature Clay and Omi climbing out of the depths of the black trench. Such a sight was relieving, to say the least.

"Kimiko!" Clay continued to shout. "You all right?"

She turned her view upward toward the top of the incessant beating ventricle, and then back down.

"Yeah! And now so's Rai!"

* * *

><p>Outside, Dojo was pacing around Master Fung's bed anxiously, while Master Fung himself was busy skimming through books on ancient Chinese medicine. Both stopped what they were doing when they noticed Raimundo stir.<p>

"Ay." The monk arose from elevated pillows, yawned, and popped his back.

"Raimundo pal, you're awake!" belted out the little green dragon with much joy and respite.

Master Fung set his books down and showcased some optimism. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh, kinda funky," was Raimundo's expected reply. He rubbed his forehead. "…And sweaty."

Dojo hopped on the bed and felt it as well. "Hmm, looks like your fever's goin' down – that's good. And _wow_! No more 'gray skin!'"

Raimundo then snapped his eyes open in full alert. "Hey, what happened? How'd I wind up here?"

"Well, for one thing, you'd passed out," Master Fung answered. "But Kimiko, Clay, Omi, and Dojo all brought you here safely."

"And let me tell ya, you are one LUCKY DUCK," said Dojo wagging a claw.

"…Huh. Guess I should get up and let 'em know I'm okay," Raimundo supposed.

The dragon tapped his claws together. "Umm, they aren't really back yet…"

"Back from where?"

All of a sudden a bright orange light appeared beside the bed, and the three monks came into view, with impeccable timing. "Whoa!" Raimundo jumped. They appeared unusually wet and ragged.

"…What happened to you guys?" he inquired, noticing how exhausted his friends were. Kimiko merely flopped on the bed for the time being.

"Oh, thank goodness," Master Fung breathed, pausing briefly to wipe his brow. "Did everything go well?"

"Yes Master – only, perhaps not _everything_…" Omi stared out into the distance, recalling what he just experienced.

"Hello? GUYS?" Raimundo was starting to lose patience on a lack of certain knowledge.

Clay itched his neck uneasily. "Um, what if we told you we'd been swimmin' around in your circulatory tract?"

"…What?"

Kim sighed loudly and sat up. "We went into your bloodstream to kill off a worm that was making you sick," she explained in a straightforward manner.

Rai was put off by that statement. "That's… gross."

"And it took a LONG TIME to find our way out, through that one little scab," she finished. "Which just goes to show that blood vessel maps aren't very reliable."

"Ooh, but what was it like?" asked Dojo curiously, without any regard for Raimundo's personal comfort. "Were there freaky immunity cells that wanted to vaporize you atom by atom?" Master Fung gave him "the look."

"Ha, ABSOLUTELY!" countered Kimiko. "And they were hunting our hide even after the whole Mikhuyana fiasco!"

"They ate my hat – " Clay began, pointing to his clearly exposed noggin.

"And the blood itself was so… pushy!" interrupted Omi. "It _WAS_ still wondrous though…" Judging by Kimiko and Clay's disapproved faces, that comment was not an appropriate one.

Raimundo didn't want to hear this anymore. "So… if you guys really did what you did, then I'm fine now, right? Whatever… icky worm thing you were talking about's gone?"

"That is correct!" Omi proudly proclaimed.

Meanwhile Dojo had been checking Rai's wrist. "Wait gang." He raised a hand up and brought the conversation to a stop. "His pulse is still wacky. I dunno what it is, but it seems pretty 'out of sync.'"

"And?" Raimundo pressured.

"AND," the dragon replied, "we don't have a clue why it's doing this."

"Mikhuyana Syndrome after-effects?" proposed Clay.

"Yeah… I guess." (The answer was probably a little obvious.)

"If that is the case," the Master spoke, "then Raimundo, I suggest you take some time to cease training until further notice. That includes hand-to-hand combat."

"Huh? But…" Rai started, taken aback, "I have to be team leader! I mean… I can't actually LEAD any battles if I'm not in the fray."

"Which may be true," Master Fung reasoned, "but an uneven rhythm of the xin is to be monitored carefully, not ignored. You never had this problem up until now, correct?"

"Well, no…"

"Then you need rest and treatment."

Raimundo started heating up again, this time in anger. He leaped off the bed and onto his feet. "LOOK," he said, walking back and forth at a brisk pace. "I can strut around no problem."

"I see that, but you need to understand your body's demands for recovery."

"I feel fine!"

"Do not argue, Raimundo." Master Fung's voice hadn't sounded this stern in a while.

The headstrong monk refrained. "Whatever…" he mumbled, crossing his arms and avoiding eye contact.

"Omi, Kimiko, Clay. You are to continue your training so you can retrieve those Shen Gong Wu," instructed the old monk.

"…You think we can manage fightin' against 'the big bad,' if need be, _without_ Rai?" Clay questioned worriedly.

"We seem to have 'managed' an entire immune system just fine," Kim retorted.

"Wudai Orion would be _VERY_ useful in a… scrape, however," Omi added.

Master Fung put a stop to the fuss. "IF you must battle such enemies, then perhaps Uarcay will be able to help instead."

To that, Raimundo was bothered once more. "As in… like taking my place? No, NO way; that's not gonna work out, given some of her… shortcomings."

"It will have to do," concluded the Master, unwavered. Finally, he let out a sigh. "Now with all said and done, let's go clean up and prepare dinner. Time seems to have gotten away from us."

"Mmm, sounds good right about now," remarked a weary Clay. "You comin' Omi?"

"…Yes…" Omi finished his spacing out and followed his cowboy friend to the doorway.

"Egh, dinner doesn't sound so great to _me_ for some reason." Kimiko flinched while getting up from Master Fung's bed. "How about you Rai? I take it you want soup or something like that?"

"No, not really." Raimundo wasn't too hungry either. They both walked out of the room behind Omi and Clay.

With the monks gone, Master Fung placed his hand on his forehead in thought. Dojo peered up at him, somewhat perplexed. "What's up Fung?"

"…Dojo, could you keep a close eye on Raimundo?"

"Uh, sure. Why?"

"Truthfully, I am still concerned…"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Still<em> some health complications. Why must I be so cruel? And why do I keep asking so many questions?**

**See, this is what happens when you bring home wild animals; they may carry serious diseases! Okay... actually it's not as simple as that. More later. **


End file.
